Ice auger

ABSTRACT

Ice auger, comprising a body tube and attached to this tube: an ice removal helix, a blade, and a hand crank, the body tube consisting of two sections, which for the purpose of folding the ice auger are mutually connected by means of a hinge; the hinge half affixed to the lower section of the body tube, as well as the hinge half affixed to the upper section of the body tube, both consisting of two plates parallel to the axis of the body tube and projecting sidewardly from the body tube; the hinge halves being mutually joined at their outer ends by a hinge pin and being joinable at their inner ends by a locking pin. Not only the body tube but also the ice removal helix has been composed of two sections, the lower section being affixed to the lower section of the body tube and by its upper end to the respective hinge half and the upper section being affixed to the upper section of the body tube and by its lower end to the respective hinge half.

United States Patent [1 1 Rantanen 51 Dec. 30, 1975 1 ICE AUGER 22 Filed: Aug. 16, 1974 211 Appl. No.: 498,042

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Michasiw 175/394 X Primary Examiner-Frank L. Abbott Assistant ExaminerRichard E. Favreau Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Torn, McGeady and Stanger [57] ABSTRACT Ice auger, comprising a body tube and attached to this tube: an ice removal helix, a blade, and a hand crank, the body tube consisting of two sections, which for the purpose of folding the ice auger are mutually connected by means of a hinge; the hinge half affixed to the lower section of the body tube, as well as the hinge half affixed to the upper section of the body tube, both consisting of two plates parallel to the axis of the body tube and projecting sidewardly from the body tube; the hinge halves being mutually joinedat their outer ends by a hinge pin and being joinable at their inner ends by a locking pin. Not only the body tube but also the ice removal helix has been composed of two sections, the lower section being affixed to the lower section of the body tube and by its upper end to the respective hinge half and the upper section being affixed to the upper section of the body tube and by its lower end to the respective hinge half.

3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 30, 1975 ICE AUGER I SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the prior art, ice augers of many different types are known which have ajhinge enabling them tobe folded into a transport position. They have the common.feature that an ice removalhelix has only been attached to the lower section of the body tube,.and this helix is then comparatively short. This causes the drawback that in the case of thick ice being drilled, at the final stage of the drilling operation the ice removal helix completely disappears under the top surface of the iceandno longer serves to push the icy slush up from the drilled hole. The icy slush is packed over the helix to form a kind of plug. After the point of the auger has pierced the ice and when the auger is retracted, the .plug' formed by the icy slush'strongly impedes the lifting of the auger.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawback mentioned. The invention is characterized in that not only the body tube but also the ice removal helix has been composed of two sections, the lower section being attached to the lower section of the body tube and by its upper end to the respective hinge half, and the upper section of the helix being attached to the upper section of the body tube and by its lower end to the respective hinge half.

An ice auger according to the invention has a long helix, which therefore does not disappear under the ice surface even when thick ice is being drilled. It follows that when the auger is rotated, the helix will remove icy slush from the hole all the time. No difficulties are encountered in retracting the auger from the hole.

Since the upper end of the lower section of the helix has been affixed to the hinge half projecting from the body tube and the lower end of the upper section of the helix has similarly been affixed to the opposite hinge half, there is no risk of damage to these ends of the helix sections.

An advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the plates of the hinge half affixed to the upper section of the body tube are disposed between the plates of the hinge half affixed to the lower section of the body tube, and that the lower end of the upper section of the helix has been attached to the upper edge of both plates of the respective hinge half and the upper end of the lower section of the helix has been similarly attached to the upper edge of one of the plates of the respective hinge half. By this arrangement it is achieved that the hinge will lie under the helix, whereby there are no obstructions above the helix which would impede the flow of the icy slush. The helix continues as an unobstructed helical surface past the hinging point.

This feature is furthermore enhanced by the fact that the upper edges of the hinge halves have been shaped to be consistent with the shape of the helix.

The invention is described in the following with the aid of an example, with reference to the attached drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 presents an ice auger according to the invention, in the position ready for use.

FIG. 2 shows the hinging point of FIG. 1, drawn to a larger scale.

FIG. 3 shows the ice auger in the transport position.

FIG. 4 shows the ice auger, viewed in the direction of arrows [V -IV in FIG. 3, and partly sectioned.

2 FIG. 5 shows the section along the line V-V in FIG. 2. i

Gashows thesection along the line VI-VI in FIG, 2. v The ice, auger depicted in the drawing comprises the body tube 1,2 and the following components attached thereto: iceiremoval helix 3,4, blade 5, and hand crank 6. The bodyitube hasbeen composed of two sections 1 and 2, which have been joined by,;the hinge 7. The hinge half attached to the lower section 2 of the body tube has been formed by bending a metal plate into U shape so that it presents two plates 8 and 9 parallel with the axis of the body tube. As illustrated in FIG. 6 the upper edges of plates 10 andv l1 arefixed to the lower end of upper body tube section 1 and the lower edges of plates 8 and 9 are fixed to the upper end of the lower body tube section 2. The hinge half attached to the upper body tube section has similarly been formed by bending a metal plate into U shape so that it presents two plates 10- and 11 parallel with the axis of the body tube. The plates 8 to 11 project sidewardly from the body tube and they have been joined at their outer ends by a bolt 12, which serves as a hinge pin. The plates 10 and 11 of the upper hinge half reside between the plates 8 and 9 of the lower hinge half. In addition, the plates 8 to 11 may be connected, in the operating position of the ice auger, by means of a locking pin 13, which is located at the inner ends of the plates, or approximately on the axis of the body tube. The locking pin 13 has been provided with threads, and the plates 9, 10 and 11 with mating threaded holes, while the plate 8 has a slit 14 for free passage of the pin 13. Hereby the hinge 7 can be rapidly undone from the operational position of FIG. 1 by unscrewing the lock- I ing pin 13 so that it is released from the threaded hole in the plate 9, as can best be seen from FIG. 4. Similarly, the hinge can be rapidly locked again.

According to the invention, not only the body tube 1,2 but also the ice removal helix has been formed of two sections, 3 and 4. The lower section 4 of the helix is affixed to the lower section 2 of the body tube and by its upper end to the upper edge of the plate 9 of the respective hinge half. The upper section 3 of the helix, again, is affixed to the upper section 1 of the body tube and to the upper edges of the plates 10 and 11 of the respective hinge half. The upper parts of the plates 9, 10 and 11 have been shaped tobe consistent with the shape of the helix.

It is obvious to one skilled in the art that various embodiments of the invention may vary within the scope of the claims following below.

I claim:

1. Improvement in an ice auger, comprising an axially extending body tube, an ice removal helix wound around said body tube, said body tube having a first end and a second end, a blade attached to the first end of said body tube and a hand crank. attached to the second end of said body tube, said body tube comprising a lower section extending axially from said first end to a point intermediate said first and second ends and an upper section extending from the intermediate point toward said second end, a hinge located at the intermediate point and pivotally connecting said lower section and upper section together, said hinge comprising a first hinge half fixed to said lower section and a second hinge half fixed to said upper section, each of said first and second hinge halves comprising two plates spaced apart and extending in parallel relation with the axis of said body tube, each of said plates having an outer end spaced laterally outwardly from said body tube and an inner end located on the opposite side of the axis of said body tube from said outer end, a hinge pin connecting the outer ends of said plates of said first and second hinge halves together, and a locking pin releasably connecting the inner ends of said plates of said first and second hinge halves, wherein the improvement comprises that said ice helix comprises a first helix section secured to said lower section of said body tube and a second helix section secured to said upper section, said first helix section at the intermediate point attached to said first hinge half and said second helix section at the intermediate point attached to said second hinge half.

2. Improvement in an ice auger, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said parallel plates of said second hinge half are spaced closer together than said parallel plates of said first hinge half and said parallel plates of said first hinge half and said second hinge half disposed in para]- lel relation, said parallel plates of said first hinge half fitted between said parallel plates of said second hinge half when said lower and upper sections of said body tube are in axial alignment, each of said parallel plates of said hinge halves having an upper edge and a lower edge so that with said lower and upper sections in axial alignment said upper edges of said parallel plates are closer to the second end of said body tube than the lower edges, the end of said second helix section adjacent said hinge is fixed to the upper edges of said parallel plates of said second hinge half and the end of said second helix section adjacent said hinge is fixed to the upper edge of one of said parallel plates of said first hinge half.

3. Improvement in an ice auger, as set forth in claim 2, wherein the upper edges of said parallel plates to which said first and second helix sections are attached are arranged to conform to the configuration of said helix sections. 

1. Improvement in an ice auger, comprising an axially extending body tube, an ice removal helix wound around said body tube, said body tube having a first end and a second end, a blade attached to the first end of said body tube and a hand crank attached to the second end of said body tube, said body tube comprising a lower section extending axially from said first end to a point intermediate said first and second ends and an upper section extending from the intermediate point toward said second end, a hinge located at the intermediate point and pivotally connecting said lower secTion and upper section together, said hinge comprising a first hinge half fixed to said lower section and a second hinge half fixed to said upper section, each of said first and second hinge halves comprising two plates spaced apart and extending in parallel relation with the axis of said body tube, each of said plates having an outer end spaced laterally outwardly from said body tube and an inner end located on the opposite side of the axis of said body tube from said outer end, a hinge pin connecting the outer ends of said plates of said first and second hinge halves together, and a locking pin releasably connecting the inner ends of said plates of said first and second hinge halves, wherein the improvement comprises that said ice helix comprises a first helix section secured to said lower section of said body tube and a second helix section secured to said upper section, said first helix section at the intermediate point attached to said first hinge half and said second helix section at the intermediate point attached to said second hinge half.
 2. Improvement in an ice auger, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said parallel plates of said second hinge half are spaced closer together than said parallel plates of said first hinge half and said parallel plates of said first hinge half and said second hinge half disposed in parallel relation, said parallel plates of said first hinge half fitted between said parallel plates of said second hinge half when said lower and upper sections of said body tube are in axial alignment, each of said parallel plates of said hinge halves having an upper edge and a lower edge so that with said lower and upper sections in axial alignment said upper edges of said parallel plates are closer to the second end of said body tube than the lower edges, the end of said second helix section adjacent said hinge is fixed to the upper edges of said parallel plates of said second hinge half and the end of said second helix section adjacent said hinge is fixed to the upper edge of one of said parallel plates of said first hinge half.
 3. Improvement in an ice auger, as set forth in claim 2, wherein the upper edges of said parallel plates to which said first and second helix sections are attached are arranged to conform to the configuration of said helix sections. 